Month: October 2016
Job of the week: architects at Schmidt Hammer Lassen
Our job of the week on Dezeen Jobs is for architects of all levels at the China office of Schmidt Hammer Lassen, which transformed an ageing Shanghai office block into a business incubator, featuring a translucent aluminium skin (pictured). Visit the ad for full details or browse more architecture and design opportunities on Dezeen Jobs.
4000 Shades of Green: Transborder Studio’s Redesign Proposal for the “Grey Belt” in St. Petersburg
The Grey Belt. Image Courtesy of Transborder Studio
Oslo-based Transborder Studios is one of nine international firms competing to transform St. Petersburg’s “Grey Belt,” a 4,000-hectare territory of inactive industrial buildings and open spaces. The firm, which just won a competition for the development of Oslo’s new “Agricultural District,” is proposing a green rejuvenation with four multi-performing landscapes, a productive buffer, and development hubs.
Courtesy of Transborder Studio
Our concept consists of a landscape strategy for highly performative ecosystems, a strategy for sustainable industrial zones along the traffic corridors and a densification strategy around metro hubs building the foundation for a green future, not only the Grey Belt, but for the entire city of St Petersburg, says Oystein Ro, Transborder Studios Founder.
Courtesy of Transborder Studio
Bordered by the Ekateringofka River on the west and the Neva River on the east, the subjected area poses difficulties due to the cost of building transformation. Transborder aims to reuse existing resources — industrial heritage and existing public infrastructure systems — as instruments for sustainable development.
Courtesy of Transborder Studio
Courtesy of Transborder Studio
The firm’s proposed four green corridors (transforming existing green structures in the Grey Belt) consist of Ekatringofka Seaside Park, The Linear Park, the Vokovka River Park and the Neva Riverbank Park. In addition to immense areas of suggested recreational space, each system will offer numerous services for the city (i.e. cleaning up the air, rain filtration, an increase in biodiversity, or energy production).
Courtesy of Transborder Studio
Courtesy of Transborder Studio
“Leftover space” adjacent to toxic infrastructure will be turned into a productive buffer used for “sustainable large scale production, distribution, and repair.” Finally, the firm plans to center growth around current metro stops as these areas already attract daily passengers.
Courtesy of Transborder Studio
The Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture of St. Petersburg is currently judging proposals.
News Via: Transborder Studios.
Rural Hotel Complex / ideo arquitectura
© Imagen Subliminal
- Architects: ideo arquitectura
- Location: Ciudad Real, Spain
- Architect In Charge: Mayte Barrios
- Principal Design: Virginia del Barco
- Area: 90.0 sqm
- Project Year: 2016
- Photographs: Imagen Subliminal
© Imagen Subliminal
From the architect. The oil-tourism will step on strong in the near future. The developer of this rural resort knows this and has launched in La Mancha (land where Miguel de Cervantes got inspired to write El Quijote), a resort dedicated to oil.
Site Plan
In this hotel, designed by the architect Sergio Peralta, Ideo Arquitectura has done some interior design works: lighting, new façade openings, doors, wash basins, designer beds, stairs, kitchen, etc. The Architect, Virginia del Barco, has also designed the auxiliary furniture, such as mirrors, water taps, the patio water fall and the three coloured “ideo” sofa. All these has been done with much care and with the aim that the guest finds a world of different and new sensations in every detail. None of the construction elements has been manufactured in series. As an example, a more than 3 meter long metal beam becomes a washbasin. Two inclined trays collect the water driving it under the sink, which has also been designed by the Firm.
© Imagen Subliminal
Floor Plan
© Imagen Subliminal
With regards to the finishings, we proposed an olive green as the main colour for the interiors project. All the construction elements such as floors, walls, concrete slabs, and many pieces of furniture, are impregnated with this colour, which makes the full project integrate with the nature. We have enlarged the size of the openings and windows in order to get the light in from La Mancha and invade every corner of the houses. This way, the interior and exterior merge together into a single space to achieve a perfect balance. The Senior Architect Mayte Barrios has been the Architect in charge of the Interiors and furniture project.
© Imagen Subliminal
Competition: five copies of a children’s origami book to be won
Competition: Dezeen has teamed up with publisher Owl & Dog Playbooks to give away five copies of a children‘s book filled with pre-scored sheets for making folded paper models of fish (+ slideshow). (more…)
Studio GUM Creates a Home in Milan for a Young Couple with Two Children
Moscova House is a private home located in Milan, Italy. Completed in 2014, it was designed by Studio GUM. Moscova House by Studio GUM: “The Moscova house is a volume with rectangular plan, placed on the fifth and top floor of a nineteenth century building, situated in a street corridor connecting the ‘garden’ of the city of Milan, the Sempione Park, to “Chinatown”, whose pronunciation perfectly alludes today to that..
💙 Light Storm on 500px by Joseph Rossbach, Odenton,…
💙 Light Storm on 500px by Joseph Rossbach, Odenton, US☀ NIKON… http://ift.tt/1srzP8j
6 Ways To Break Through Fear
There was a little boy at the swimming pool. His friends were making fun of him, and he was clearly nervous about something. He didn’t want to jump off the diving board. He didn’t do it. After his friends moved along he finally summoned up the courage and jumped off the plank. When he surfaced, he erupted from the water with a giant smile – “I did it! I conquered my fear!”
It was that simple for the boy.
Many of us live everyday wrapped up in a conundrum of anxieties, fears and insecurities. We’re worried about the present, past and future. We we’re about our clothes, what we said last night, spiders, theft, robbery, the weather. For some of us, our daily insecurities are the reason we spend hours rolling around in bed at night or make strange decisions during our vulnerable times.
We don’t want to let our fears stop us, or get in our way. We want to walk around with confidence, be able to talk to whoever we want, and do the things we want to do. Overcoming your fears is simpler than you expect, and there could almost be a formula to it. After all, we do subconsciously everyday.
Never let fear decide your future
1. You are who you want to be
Always remember that at the end of the day, you are who you want to be. If you want to be a strong, charismatic, confident person, you must grow and train yourself to become that. You must remind yourself that in order to succeed, you must overcome your fears. If you do not, your insecurities pose a threat of taking over your true personality and commanding the avenues of your life.
Say to yourself everyday that you are strong. Remind yourself in the mirror. Watch affirmative videos that will offer you guidance. Speak to yourself until you know it to be true.
2. Fear exposure
Sometimes the only way to overcome fear is to introduce it into your life. Imagine a little boy or girl that is so scared of spiders, garden snakes, or big dogs. These are mostly harmless creatures, but to an inexperienced child they can be truly terrifying since they have no prior experience with them. But as soon as they have a few experiences, good experiences, with the animals, you can reassure them that they are not so bad, and may be on your side. This is all just practice for growing up.
Same goes for adults. If you are terrified of talking to people, practice it more often. Force yourself into casual small talk and interactions. Nothing too serious, just a few things to get yourself warmed up. Even the most elite socialites need to practice communication from time to time. It happens from the minute we wake up to the time we go to bed. We need to continue to practice our social muscles. When it is fear based, it is even more quintessential.
3. Confrontation
Fearing something will not make it disappear. If you are afraid of something terminal, like death, it is best to come to grips with that immediately. For children it is easy for them to run away and hide, but we know better than that. Consider spending time with people who are dealing with something terminal in order to recognize the bravery and composure they have during their ordeal. It is a life worth examining.
4. Find the exhilaration
How about turning your fears into something fun? Sometimes the adrenaline rush is all you need to reconnect with yourself on the inside. Do you think comedians weren’t terrified the first time they went on stage? They were, but they did it and dealt with the emotional consequences. Or how about extreme sport athletes, F1 drivers, or others in high risk employment? These people risk life and limb everyday with courage, but they certainly didn’t start that way. Use adrenaline as motivation to get over that hill, and you might find yourself doing something you now love.
5. Work your way through it
If you’re in a pinch and your fears start coming up fast, remember to slow down. If you make decisions from a basis of fear, you’re going to make some emotionally charged decisions. Use it as an exercise. Every time you feel that anxiety coming up, use it as a cue to start breathing properly and relax. Use simple mantras like “there is nothing I cannot overcome,” and “there is nothing here to worry about” to give yourself real time motivation. Analyze the situation and realize, there is nothing to be worried about at all!
6. You’re not alone
People find fear through a place of anxiety, and anxiety is often a lonely, isolating place to be in. We always forget that – hey! – there are a lot of other people who are also nervous about this! Lots and lots of people around you hide from anxiety and fear everyday; in fact, just about everybody. Remember that you’re not the only one. The best thing to do is simply talk about it immediately with someone. The more open you are about it, the more people will help you with the problem, and you will feel better to know that everyone else knows what you’re going through.
The post 6 Ways To Break Through Fear appeared first on Change your thoughts.
Timber-clad Gamla Villan by Mer Architects offers views of Finnish meadow and sea
Mews House / Russell Jones
© Rory Gardiner
- Architects: Russell Jones
- Location: Highgate, London N6, UK
- Area: 68.0 sqm
- Project Year: 2015
- Photographs: Rory Gardiner
- Client: Private
- Architectural Assistants For The Mews House Included: Ross Tredget, Nick Vullings, Hannah Guy
- Structural Design : Techniker
- The Building Contractor: D.F. Keane
© Rory Gardiner
A 68 square metre compact 2 bedroom mews house and enclosed courtyard of 11 square metres in Highgate. This 2 storey brick house faces onto a quiet cobbled mews. Its 90 square metre site, on land to the rear of a 5 story locally listed building, was formerly occupied by a disused garage and derelict garden. It sits amongst a patchwork of rear fenced off gardens, garages, mews houses and ad-hoc rear ad-ons and a recently completed house, also by Russell Jones.
© Rory Gardiner
Originally a decrepit backland area, of run down and disused garages and a haven for crime and fly tipping, the location is now gradually developing into a secluded residential enclave.
The project was designed and developed with an economy of visual, spatial and structural means. The material palette and the design were kept intentionally simple. The volumes were handled in such a way as to make the most of a small site constrained by overlooking neighbours on most elevations, resulting in a building that has an overall sense of space and calm infrequently seen in properties of this size in London. The careful selection and crafted use of materials create an essential quality that isn’t apparent in the materials themselves. The resulting home, although compact, feels spacious and special.
© Rory Gardiner
Plan 0
© Rory Gardiner
On the ground floor the covered main entrance provides direct access to an open plan living, kitchen and dining area. This area opens out onto a rear courtyard via floor to ceiling glazing which provides a physical and visual continuation of the space. The paving stones form a continuous surface from the front external entrance through the internal areas and out into the rear courtyard. At the point of entry an external bicycle, services and recycling store is provided and, adjacent the door, a full height obscured glazed window. To the rear is a ground floor WC with laundry cupboard. The first floor is accessed via a single flight stair hovering beside the brick wall. On the first floor are 2 bedrooms, each with built-in storage, and a bathroom. Dormer and skylights are carefully positioned to bring daylight in to the interior.
Section
Section
In the courtyard a small niched area is incorporated into the brickwork wall for residents to place candles or herbs and plants to enliven the courtyard place.
© Rory Gardiner
The choice of building material for this small Mews House in Highgate was influenced by the original context, and the ongoing development of the mews into a new residential enclave. The prominent gable fronted terrace that faces the A1 carriageway on one side, presents itself to this backland location as a continuous wall of punctuated London Common Brickwork. Discussion with the Haringey Planning department led to a selection of a light coloured brick and mortar for new buildings in the mews, as a contrast to the weathered and dirty commons behind, to unify and instil a sense of continuity to the new developments in the mews, and also to increase light levels along the cobbled passage.
© Rory Gardiner
Wienerberger Marziale was initially used in the Mews on another project by Russell Jones and continued as the primary material for the small house. Marziale was selected for all external and internal structural walls, and precast concrete paving stones in a light tone to match the brickwork were used throughout the ground floor interior and exterior.
© Rory Gardiner
The quality of the brickwork has been enhanced through the use of a carefully selected mortar, using white cement, lime and washed river sand, and a subtle manipulation of the surface texture using a method known in Scandinavia as ‘Sækkeskuring’; A similar finish, known as ‘bagging’ was popular in Australia in the 1960s and 70s. This surface finish was appreciated as a way of creating a more monolithic Architecture, without losing the identity of each and every brick.
© Rory Gardiner
Douglas Fir was used in the first floor rooms and for the entrance joinery. Douglas Fir treads and fir faced structural plywood were used for the stair. To these, white oil was applied as the finish.
© Rory Gardiner
The building includes underfloor heating throughout and, built to level 3 Code for Sustainable Homes, makes use of a rainwater harvesting system and photovoltaic panels.
Sig Nordal 